In this timely collection, the authors examine Indigenous peoples’ negotiations with different cosmologies in a globalized world. Dussart and Poirier outline a sophisticated theory of change that accounts for the complexity of Indigenous peoples’ engagement with Christianity and other cosmologies, their own colonial experiences, as well as their ongoing relationships to place and kin. The contributors offer fine-grained ethnographic studies that highlight the complex and pragmatic ways in which Indigenous peoples enact their cosmologies and articulate their identity as forms of affirmation. This collection is a major contribution to the anthropology of religion, religious studies, and Indigenous studies worldwide.

Contributors: Anne-Marie Colpron, Robert R. Crépeau, Françoise Dussart, Ingrid Hall, Laurent Jérôme, Frédéric Laugrand, C. James MacKenzie, Caroline Nepton Hotte, Ksenia Pimenova, Sylvie Poirier, Kathryn Rountree, Antonella Tassinari, Petronella Vaarzon-Morel

Françoise Dussart is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut.

Françoise Dussart's profile page

Sylvie Poirier is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Université Laval.

Sylvie Poirier's profile page

"Finalement, cet ouvrage dirigé par Sylvie Poirier et Françoise Dussart est une lecture indispensable pour quiconque souhaite aborder les mécanismes d’homogénéisation et d’hétérogénéisation associés à la mondialisation et aux contemporanéités autochtones." Florian Lebret, Université Laval, Revue d’études autochtones (vol. 52, nos. 1-2, 2022-2023)

"Contemporary Indigenous Cosmologies and Pragmatics est un ouvrage cohérent qui propose une réelle synergie entre les différents chapitres, ce qui n’est pas toujours le cas pour un ouvrage collectif de ce genre. Il donnera l’occasion aux chercheurs en anthropologie de pousser plus loin leurs réflexions sur la contemporanéité des cosmologies autochtones, notamment à travers une riche diversité et ce, sur le plan à la fois thématique et ethnographique mais aussi théorique. N’importe quel spécialiste ou étudiant qui s’intéresse aux dynamiques religieuses autochtones y trouvera son compte." Émile Duchesne, Anthropologie et Sociétés, Vol. 46, No 2, 2022

“Contemporary Indigenous Cosmologies and Pragmatics advances debates about how Indigenous cosmologies are received, understood, and valued. The contributors consider the complex connections that emerge between religiosity, politics, activism, and the ways in which globalization continues to shape these processes as Indigenous cultures relate with different elements of traditionally European religions.” Amy Whitehead, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Massey University